1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak

Wichita Falls, Texas
F4 tornado
	More destruction from the Wichita Falls tornado
Max. rating1	F4 tornado
Casualties	46 fatalities
	1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak
	Destruction in Wichita Falls, Texas, after the tornado
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	April 10–11, 1979
Tornadoes confirmed	59 confirmed
Max. rating1	F4 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	2 days
Damage	unknown
Casualties	58 fatalities, approximately 2000 injuries [1]
Areas affected	Midwestern and Southern United States
	1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale; 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

The 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak was a tornado event that occurred on April 10, 1979, near the Red River Valley. It is noted for the F4 tornado that hit Wichita Falls, Texas, and is commonly referred to as "Terrible Tuesday" by many meteorologists. Additional tornadoes were reported across the Southern Plains as well as in the Mississippi River Valley on April 10–11, 1979.

Meteorological Synopsis

A deepening low pressure system formed in Colorado as a warm front lifted north pulling warm, moist, unstable air. There was strong upper level dynamics all coming together to produce strong tornado-producing supercells. In the early afternoon hours, three supercell thunderstorms formed. They moved northeastward, and as a trio spawned families of tornadoes. These supercells caused the most damaging tornadoes of the outbreak.

The first tornado formed near Crowell, Texas, at around 3:05 p.m. About 35 minutes later, the first killer one of the outbreak ripped through Vernon and killed 11 people. Then the supercell spawned one that killed three people in Lawton, Oklahoma. The second supercell spawned one that moved 64 miles (103 km).

The third supercell was the one that formed the Seymour and Wichita Falls tornadoes as part of a three-member tornado family. The first tornado formed near Seymour at around 4:53 pm. The storm spawned a second tornado that moved through the south and east sides of Wichita Falls at around 6:00 pm. The third member of the family formed near Waurika, Oklahoma, at around 8:00 p.m.

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating
FU	F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Total
0	10	18	25	4	2	0	59

April 10 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Tuesday, April 10, 1979[nb 1]
F#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max width	Summary	Refs
F0	S of Crosbyton	Crosby	TX	33.65°N 101.23°W / 33.65; -101.23 (Crosbyton (Apr. 10, F0))	1908	2 miles (3.2 km)			[2][3]
F0	E of Plainview	Hale	TX	34.20°N 101.68°W / 34.20; -101.68 (Plainview (Apr. 10, F0))	1938	0.1 miles (160 m)			[2][3]
F2	SW of Foard City to S of Rayland	Foard	TX	33.85°N 99.80°W / 33.85; -99.80 (Foard City (Apr. 10, F0))	2105	22.1 miles (35.6 km)		Homes were unroofed and barns were destroyed.	[2][3]
F4	SE of Rayland, Texas to NE of Davidson, Oklahoma	Foard (TX), Wilbarger (TX), Tillman (OK)	TX, OK	34.03°N 99.47°W / 34.03; -99.47 (Rayland (Apr. 10, F0))	2120	39.7 miles (63.9 km)		11 deaths – Large wedge tornado struck the town of Vernon, where numerous homes and businesses were destroyed including a cafe, motel, and truck stop. 7 of the deaths occurred when vehicles were thrown from US-287. Tornado crossed into Oklahoma, destroying 3 homes and damaging 5 others. Caused $27,000,000 in damage and injured an additional 67 people.	[2][3]
F0	SE of Thalia	Foard	TX	33.98°N 99.53°W / 33.98; -99.53 (Thalia (Apr. 10, F0))	2120	2.5 miles (4.0 km)			[2][3]
F2	Harrold, Texas to Marlow, Oklahoma	Wilbarger (TX), Wichita (TX), Tillman (OK), Cotton (OK), Comanche (OK), Stephens (OK)	TX, OK	34.08°N 99.03°W / 34.08; -99.03 (Harrold (Apr. 10, F0))	2155	74.1 miles (119.3 km)		1 death – Large wedge tornado moved through Texas and Oklahoma. Eight planes were destroyed at an airport near Grandfield, and a home in the area lost its exterior walls. A grain elevator was destroyed in the Hulen area, and homes were damaged in Pumpkin Center and near Walters. Fatality occurred when a woman took shelter underneath a semi-truck, which rolled over her when the tornado struck.	[2][3]
F2	N of Hollister	Tillman	OK	34.35°N 98.90°W / 34.35; -98.90 (Hollister (Apr. 10, F0))	2205	9.2 miles (14.8 km)		Three houses were destroyed and several others were damaged.	[2][3]
F1	N of Faxon	Comanche	OK	34.47°N 98.62°W / 34.47; -98.62 (Faxon (Apr. 10, F0))	2235	7.1 miles (11.4 km)		A mobile home was destroyed in the Faxson area, resulting in two serious injuries. Other homes in the area were damaged. Tornado left suction vortex marks in open fields.	[2][3]
F2	NE of Seymour	Baylor	TX	33.62°N 99.30°W / 33.62; -99.30 (Seymour (Apr. 10, F0))	2249	10.4 miles (16.7 km)		Tornado damaged roofs, telephone poles, trees, uprooted shrubs and overturned a truck, but remained over open country while at peak intensity. Tornado was well documented on film and by NSSL storm researchers.	[2][3]
F3	Lawton area	Comanche	OK	34.57°N 98.42°W / 34.57; -98.42 (Lawton (Apr. 10, F0))	2305	4.5 miles (7.2 km)		3 deaths – Strong tornado struck Lawton, destroying over 116 structures, and damaging over 330 others. Unanchored homes were completely swept from their foundations. One of the fatalities occurred when a car was tossed from a road.	[2][3]
F1	SW of Iowa Park	Wichita	TX	33.90°N 98.80°W / 33.90; -98.80 (Iowa Park (Apr. 10, F0))	2308	0.1 miles (160 m)			[2][3]
F4	SW of Wichita Falls to E of Waurika, Oklahoma	Archer (TX), Wichita (TX), Clay, Jefferson (OK)	TX, OK	33.82°N 98.65°W / 33.82; -98.65 (Wichita Falls (Apr. 10, F0))	2350	46.9 miles (75.5 km)		42 deaths – See section on this tornado	[2][3]
F1	Wichita Falls area	Wichita	TX	33.90°N 98.50°W / 33.90; -98.50 (Wichita Falls (Apr. 10, F0))	0000	2 miles (3.2 km)		Second, much weaker tornado in the area.	[2][3]
F2	S of Noble	Cleveland	OK	35.10°N 97.37°W / 35.10; -97.37 (Noble (Apr. 10, F0))	0040	2 miles (3.2 km)		Two barns were damaged.	[2][3]
F2	E of Bellemont	Pottawatomie, Lincoln	OK	35.42°N 96.75°W / 35.42; -96.75 (Bellemont (Apr. 10, F0))	0045	4.6 miles (7.4 km)		Two trailers were destroyed, and three homes were damaged. One person was injured.	[2][3]
F2	SW of Noble	Cleveland	OK	35.10°N 97.40°W / 35.10; -97.40 (Noble (Apr. 10, F0))	0050	1.5 miles (2.4 km)		A mobile home was destroyed.	[2][3]
F1	Hays area	Ellis	KS	38.87°N 99.32°W / 38.87; -99.32 (Hays (Apr. 10, F0))	0130	0.5 miles (0.80 km)	67 yd (61 m)		[2][3]
F3	W of Pruitt City	Carter	OK	34.35°N 97.60°W / 34.35; -97.60 (Pruitt City (Apr. 10, F0))	0155	12.8 miles (20.6 km)		Severe damage in the Pruitt City area. 44 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed. Several vehicles, including a bus, were flipped and tossed.	[2][3]
F0	W of Oakland	Pottawatomie	OK	34.12°N 96.80°W / 34.12; -96.80 (Oakland (Apr. 10, F0))	0205	0.2 miles (320 m)			[2][3]
F2	SW of Novice	Runnels, Coleman	TX	31.97°N 99.80°W / 31.97; -99.80 (Novice (Apr. 10, F0))	0317	9.6 miles (15.4 km)		Large tornado destroyed several barns and scattered debris over a large area.	[2][3]
F3	SW of Talpa to N of Coleman	Runnels, Coleman	TX	31.70°N 99.75°W / 31.70; -99.75 (Talpa (Apr. 10, F0))	0330	25 miles (40 km)		Homes and barns were ripped apart.	[2][3]
F1	SE of Comanche	Comanche	TX	31.87°N 98.52°W / 31.87; -98.52 (Comanche (Apr. 10, F0))	0550	0.1 miles (160 m)			[2][3]
F2	S of Energy to W of Hico	Comanche, Hamilton	TX	31.75°N 98.37°W / 31.75; -98.37 (Energy (Apr. 10, F0))	0550	24 miles (39 km)		Barns were destroyed and homes sustained roof damage. A woman was injured when her truck rolled into the ditch in which she was taking cover.	[2][3]
F1	Mineral Wells area	Palo Pinto	TX	32.80°N 98.12°W / 32.80; -98.12 (Mineral Wells (Apr. 10, F0))	0556	0.1 miles (160 m)			[2][3]

April 11 event

List of reported tornadoes – Wednesday, April 11, 1979
F#	Location	County / Parish	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Path width^†	Comments/Damage
Texas
F1	NE of Southmayd	Grayson		0206	0.1 miles (160 m)
F2	N of Athens	Henderson, Van Zandt		1610	13.3 miles (21.4 km)
F2	Sulphur Springs area	Hopkins		1612	8.3 miles (13.4 km)
F1	NW of Hainesville	Wood		1702	0.1 miles (160 m)
Oklahoma
F0	N of Oakland	Pottawatomie		0205	0.2 miles (320 m)
F1	NE of Allen	Pontotoc		0601	3 miles (4.8 km)
F2	NW of Kingston	Marshall		0705	0.1 miles (160 m)		A trailer and three barns were destroyed.
F0	W of Beland	Muskogee		1000	0.1 miles (160 m)
F2	SW of Eagletown to W of Big Fork (AR)	McCurtain, Sevier (AR), Polk (AR)		1715	42 miles (68 km)		3 people were injured in a mobile home near the beginning of the path. Major damage in the Grannis area. Six homes, 19 trailers, and an elementary school were destroyed, where 4 students were injured. Two homes were also destroyed near Wickes. Tornado injured a total of 20 people and caused $1,750,000 in damage.
Arkansas
F2	E of Hattieville	Conway		1310	5.4 miles (8.7 km)		Six barns and two homes were destroyed. Other homes, barns, and outbuildings were damaged.
F1	W of Mountain View	Stone		1442	8.7 miles (14.0 km)
F2	Prairie Grove area	Washington		1602	11.1 miles (17.9 km)
F2	NE of Bodcaw	Nevada		2010	0.5 miles (0.80 km)		Three homes were destroyed and others were damaged.
F2	SW of Guy	Faulkner		2015	3 miles (4.8 km)		Several buildings were torn apart and a cemetery was damaged. Caused $190,000 in damage.
F2	E of East End to NE of Lonoke	Saline, Pulaski, Lonoke		2100	40.3 miles (64.9 km)		Several trailers were destroyed. Damage also occurred to machinery, homes and outbuildings.
F1	NE of Fryatt	Fulton		2145	0.5 miles (0.80 km)
F1	W of Beebe	White		2150	6.5 miles (10.5 km)
F2	NE of Crossett	Ashley		2210	10.4 miles (16.7 km)		Tornado caused $3,500,000 to the downtown business district in Hamburg. Second tornado to strike Hamburg in three days.
F2	NW of Black Rock	Lawrence		2235	2 miles (3.2 km)		Caused over $300,000 in damage to homes, barns, and a rock crushing plant.
F2	E of McGehee	Desha		2315	3.6 miles (5.8 km)		Homes and businesses were torn apart in the McGehee area. Caused a total of $449,000 in damage.
Missouri
F0	W of Hurley	Stone		1310	0.1 miles (160 m)
F3	W of Sterling to E of Licking	Douglas, Texas		1500	35.4 miles (57.0 km)
F0	SW of Bakersfield	Ozark		2115	2.7 miles (4.3 km)
F1	NE of Libertyville	St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve		2330	8.5 miles (13.7 km)		A concrete block building was destroyed, and another was partially destroyed. A home was badly damaged, losing a large portion of its front side. Two barns were also destroyed and scattered across a field.
F2	Liberty to SE of Barnesville	Clay, Clinton		0100	20.1 miles (32.3 km)		Several homes and businesses, a mobile home park, a church, and a school were damaged. Three barns were destroyed as well. 5 bus passengers were injured when they took shelter in a ditch, only to have the bus roll onto them.
Kansas
F1	NW of Colby	Thomas		2100	0.1 miles (160 m)
F1	N of Topeka	Shawnee		2300	4.1 miles (6.6 km)
Louisiana
F1	SW of Homer	Claiborne		2100	2 miles (3.2 km)
Nebraska
F0	S of Sweetwater	Buffalo		0000	0.5 miles (0.80 km)
Mississippi
F1	NW of Roundaway	Coahoma		0005	0.5 miles (0.80 km)
F2	NE of Columbus	Lowndes		0900 (04/12)	7.7 miles (12.4 km)
Kentucky
F2	S of Dycusburg to W of Bellville	Crittenden, Webster, Henderson		0150	36 miles (58 km)		Tornado tore a large section of roof from an elementary school near Robards. 5 people were injured when trailers were overturned.
Indiana
F2	SW of Boonville	Vanderburgh, Warrick		0200	10 miles (16 km)		1 death – Moved from the east side of Evansville to north of Boonville. A shopping center and a lumber yard were damaged. 1 person was killed and two others were injured when the tornado struck a mobile home park.
Tennessee
F0	Dickson area	Dickson		0500	0.3 miles (480 m)
Alabama
F1	Florence area	Lauderdale		0530	0.5 miles (0.80 km)
Source: Tornado History Project - April 11, 1979 Storm Data Grazulis (1977)

Wichita Falls, Texas

The Wichita Falls tornado formed in Archer County and moved northeast and damaged a few rural homes and high voltage towers. It rapidly intensified as it entered the city near Memorial Stadium by McNiel Jr. High on Southwest Parkway, which was located to the west of Wichita Falls at approximately 6:07 p.m. damaging both structures severely. Hail the size of golf balls preceded the touchdown and continued for approximately 15 minutes. It then became calm before the winds began to pick up.

The massive wedge tornado, which was at its maximum 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide, cut a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) swath of destruction through the south side of town, leveling everything in its path. It destroyed an apartment complex near the beginning of its path. It also took its first lives there. It later destroyed a restaurant, the majority of Sikes Senter, the major mall, and another apartment complex where it took more lives. Neighborhoods all along Southwest Parkway were leveled and nothing but debris and destruction remained.

A number of people tried to flee as the tornado moved along U.S. Highways 281 and 287. Roughly half of the 46 people killed were in their cars. It then moved into Clay County and changed its appearance to display a multiple-vortex structure. There were at times five separate vortices visible within the tornado. It inflicted additional damage south of Dean and Byers, but no more fatalities occurred. It crossed into Oklahoma where additional damage occurred before it dissipated.

Aftermath

**Outbreak death toll**
State	Total	County	County total
Indiana	1	Warrick	1
Oklahoma	3	Comanche	3
Texas	54	Wichita	42
Texas	54	Wilbarger	12
Totals	58
All deaths were tornado-related,

At the end of the outbreak, 54 people lost their lives in Texas, three were killed in Oklahoma and one was killed in Indiana. The Wichita Falls tornado alone killed 42 people and caused $400 million in damage ($1.82 billion in today's dollars).[4] The tornado cut a path 8 miles (13 km) through the city, with significant devastation.

Notes

All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.

References

Lietz, Joshua. "Custom Search Results". Tornado History Project.
April 10, 1979 Storm Data (Report). Tornado History Project. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
Grazulis (1979) (Report). Thomas P. Grazulis.
Brooks, Harold E.; Charles A. Doswell III (February 2001). "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999" (abstract). Weather and Forecasting. American Meteorological Society. 16 (1): 168–76. Bibcode:2001WtFor..16..168B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2.

Fujita, T.T., and Wakimoto, R.M. (1979). "Red River Valley tornado outbreak of April 10, 1979", University of Chicago.

External links and sources

The April 10, 1979 Severe Weather Outbreak by Don Burgess
The Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak of April 10, 1979 (NWS Norman, Oklahoma)
Full map of the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak Tornado History Project
A survivor's story (Joel Manes)
47miles.org - A project to construct a memorial to the Wichita Falls tornado
The short film "Terrible Tuesday" is available for free download at the Internet Archive

Preceded by Omaha, Ne. (1975)	Costliest U.S. tornadoes on Record April 10, 1979	Succeeded by Bridge Creek, Moore & Oklahoma City (Metro), Ok. (1999)

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[Date/Time-2] All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.

[1] Lietz, Joshua. "Custom Search Results". Tornado History Project.

[Apr1079THP-3] April 10, 1979 Storm Data (Report). Tornado History Project. Retrieved January 20, 2014.

[Graz79-4] Grazulis (1979) (Report). Thomas P. Grazulis.

[5] Brooks, Harold E.; Charles A. Doswell III (February 2001). "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999" (abstract). Weather and Forecasting. American Meteorological Society. 16 (1): 168–76. Bibcode:2001WtFor..16..168B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2.